Pride Goes Before A Fall

We read today of what God had to say through Obadiah about Edom. Edom is the nation that descended from Esau, Jacob’s brother. Remember him from way back in Genesis? He was the guy who got cheated out of his birthright by his conniving little brother. The conniving brother and his descendants would be remembered forever as being the people through whom God revealed Himself and sent His Son; Esau and his descendants are all but forgotten to history.

We saw Esau back in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. Did you know he is also mentioned in the last book of the Old Testament?

Malachi 1:2-4 ESV

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’ ”

Why would God love Jacob but hate Esau? Now realize that God is not saying he hated the individual Esau. He is saying He hated the nation the descendants of Esau became. Here in Obadiah we learn why God hated Esau.

Obadiah 1:3 ESV

“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?”

Why did God hate the descendants of Esau? What was their great sin? Their sin was pride! Is that all? They basically disappear from history because of pride? Brothers, I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, God doesn’t have a scale of sin with one being worse than the other. It seems to me, however, that if He did, pride would be at the top of the list. It is at the heart of all sin really; a desire to be god, to focus on one’s self, to call your own shots.

Look at just a few examples of what the Bible has to say about pride.

Psalm 31:23 ESV

“Love the Lord, all you his saints!
The Lord preserves the faithful
but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.”

Proverbs 8:13 ESV

“The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.

Proverbs 16:18 ESV

“The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.

Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV

“There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.”

“Haughty eyes” is another way of saying “proud look”. Pride is more of a problem than most of us realize. Brothers, have you anything you can be proud of? I hope not. Each of us deserves painful, eternal separation from God. There is no good thing in any of us but the love of Christ. The only good thing in us comes from God. We can take pride in nothing. Jesus did not come as a prideful conqueror. He came as a humble servant. He gave glory to the Father. We are to be like Christ. We are to have the mind of Christ. Let us cast aside our pride and put on the humble mind of Christ.